A Trip Back from Town
by MissBellFlower
Summary: Kogarasumaru injures his ankle and the saniwa has to carry him back to the citadel.


It took her a second to comprehend what just happened. The saniwa had been returning from a quick trip to town with Kogarasumaru. One minute, she was talking to the small tachi as they walked down some stone steps. The next minute, she saw a flash of red and black fall to the ground with a thud.

"Kogarasumaru-san, are you okay?!" She knelt down to check. Although it was only a fall from two steps, you never know how serious an injury from a fall can be.

It turned out that one of the stones had come loose and Kogarasumaru had been unfortunate enough to step on it the wrong way. Although he was a little dazed from the fall itself, there were no visible signs of any serious injuries. But he had landed in such a way that she could almost see his inner thighs.

'Stop it! Now is not the time to be thinking about that! The turning point for nihontou just fell down some stairs and _that's_ the first thing you focus on?!'

"Yes. Yes, I am fine." He sounded almost too calm saying that.

"You don't look really..." She wasn't going to finish that thought. She knew that Kogarasumaru could be a prideful little tachi and falling down stairs was not exactly good for his image.

He sat up and turned to her with a strained smile, "My apologies for asking this of you, Aruji, but could you help this father up?"

"Hm? Oh, of course." Grabbing his hand, she hoisted him up. But when he tried to put pressure on his right foot, he almost fell again. Luckily, she was able to catch him this time. Carefully, she lowered him back to sitting on the ground. "Really, are you sure you're okay?"

Kogarasumaru didn't answer this time but he also didn't object when she went to inspect his foot. At most, he flinched when she accidentally grazed her finger against his ankle.

To her surprise, the bottom of his foot wasn't as rough or callused as she thought it would be. Taking a closer look at his ankle, Kogarasumaru was definitely not okay. His ankle was already starting to swell and the bruise that was starting to appear was standing out against his pale skin. Luckily, his other foot was okay.

"You're not walking home."

"Aruji, I-"

"You're not walking home." The saniwa repeated with a firmer tone. Quickly, she turned around. "Just get on my back, I'll carry you home."

Again, Kogarasumaru didn't say anything. The saniwa glanced back to see him hesitating.

"Kogarasumaru-san, I'm not leaving you here, so just get on. Unless you want me to go back to the citadel and have one of your 'children' bring you back." That made him come to a decision much quicker. Reluctantly, he leaned on her back and she got up and started walking.

Normally, the saniwa would make a teasing comment. In this case, probably something about how light Kogarasumaru was or how his legs were around her waist. But she knew that it was not the time for that, so she held her tongue.

Although the walk home was quiet, the saniwa could practically feel the shame coming off of Kogarasumaru. She looked at him. Behind his bangs, his eyes were downcast. "How are you holding up?"

It took him a moment to answer. "Forgive me...for getting into such a state..." He didn't even try to look at her.

"Hey, it's okay. Accidents happen."

"To get injured in such a way is not befitting of a father. And to have you assist me is shameful."

"Hey, now! Don't think like that!" Seeing as how he didn't have much of a reaction, she figured he was too stubborn to see the situation her way. "It's not a bad thing to need help every once in a while."

When they arrived back to the citadel, they could already hear the usual liveliness coming from within. Kogarasumaru squeezed her shoulder when they passed the front gate. He squeezed even harder when they both saw Hasebe running towards them, most likely to greet the saniwa upon her return.

When Hasebe met up with them, his expression soured. "Just what do you think you-"

"Hasebe-san," she shifted her stance so that his focus would be on her instead of Kogarasumaru, "can you go to town and do the grocery shopping? Silly me, I forgot my wallet so the most I could do was look at what's on sale."

"Of course, Aruji. But what about-"

"Hasebe-san. Can you do the shopping for me? My wallet should be in my office." It wasn't that hard for her to look him in the eye since they were very close in height. She didn't stop asking for him to go shopping until he stopped trying to bring up the injured tachi on her back.

"Y-yes...understood. I'll go right now. I'm sorry for delaying you, Aruji." He excused himself with a bow.

"Thank you! If you need any help with what's on sale, just bring along Mitsutada-san or Hakata-kun!"

Kogarasumaru tried to make himself look smaller behind the saniwa as they made their way to the infirmary. From the yard, there were a few swords who would stare for a few seconds before going back to what they were doing.

The hall they went down was mostly empty. Besides Gokotai's large tiger wandering around and Mikazuki passing by, there was nobody there. Mikazuki just said that it was a good thing that the saniwa knew how to take care of the elderly.

Inside the infirmary's office, Yagen was taking inventory of the supplies.

"Oh, good! Yagen-kun, you're here!" the saniwa said to get the tantou's attention.

"Oh hey, Taishou. You're back early." His eyes zeroed in on Kogarasumaru's ankle. "What happened there?"

"Oh, uh, a minor accident coming back from town. I just need you to check how bad it is."

Yagen motioned to the examination table. "Of course. Just sit down over there."

The saniwa let Kogarasumaru down. She heard a soft "thank you" as he got on his uninjured foot. After helping him onto the table, she took the chance to stretch.

"Well, just from looking at this, I'd recommend resting for a bit before going to the repair room. It's kinda backed up anyway." Yagen mumbled out the last part, looking away from the saniwa.

"I heard that! I'm just stocking up on resources, okay?!" She heard Yagen mumble "yeah, yeah" as he began to look through the drawers. "Well, I have some things to take care of, so I'll check up on the both of you later."

"Aruji. I would like to discuss this matter with you later." Kogarasumaru said before the saniwa started to head out. He was back to being his usual elegant self, even as Yagen was preparing the compression and cold pack.

"Of course. Just drop by my office anytime after you've healed up."

Later in the day, Kogarasumaru came by her office to properly thank her for her help and to apologize for his behavior. He said that he would prefer it if this little incident was put behind them. However, for a while, he was a little wary of the stone stairs outside of the nearby town.


End file.
